Raceweekends Blog

14.04.2013 / Raceweekends

Race Weekend 2013 round 1 | Monza (IT)

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The world’s most subscribed and popular GT endurance competition has placed itself firmly at the top of the quality and quantity scale in 2013, as 60 GT3 cars started the season at Monza this weekend in one of the biggest grids seen at the famous Italian circuit in recent times.

This year, bearing the brand colors for the first time, the Blancpain Racing team of Marc A. Hayek, President and CEO of Blancpain, and Peter Kox started the season in their new #24 Lamborghini Gallardo.

The Lamborghini Gallardo GT3 FLII of Blancpain Racing in action.

At the end of the three hour-long race, the Ferrari 458 Italia of Kessel Racing claimed victory in the Pro category in the first round of the 2013 Blancpain Endurance Series at Monza this afternoon after a thrilling race to open the brand new season. In second place was the #11 ART Grand Prix McLaren MP4-12C of Andy Soucek/Antoine Leclerc and Mike Parisy. Rounding out the PRO Cup podium was the #69 Gulf Racing McLaren MP4-12C of Nico Verdonck/Rob Bell and Adam Carroll who were embroiled in a titanic fight with the #13 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT Audi and the leading PRO-AM Ferrari of AF Corse in the closing stages, driven by Andrea Bertolini. Adam Carroll just pipped the Audi on the line by 0.028s in an amazing finish which wowed the crowd.

In a further enhancement to the coverage enjoyed by the Blancpain Endurance Series, it has been announced saturday that Eurosport International will screen a bespoke highlights programme of all races in the 2013 calendar.

With interest in the Blancpain Endurance Series at an all-time high, both the promoters - SRO Motorsports Group and series title sponsors - Blancpain, have collaborated to bring fans closer to the frenetic action this season. An hour-long programme will be screened on the Tuesday evening after four of the five rounds, capturing all the drama and non-stop action of the epic three-hour races. The second round of the series at Silverstone will be screened on 18th June. All races will be shown in the late evening with a guaranteed repeat of each event the following morning on Eurosport 2.

Eurosport’s vast network of channels is available in 59 countries, in 20 different languages and is one of the most widely viewed dedicated sporting channels in the world.

A memorable occasion both on and off the track, guests & drivers will not forget the unique way that Blancpain celebrated the end of a long winter by complementing the excellent weather at Monza this weekend.